United warns grim outlook threatens a third of pilot jobs

United Airlines warned that it’s considering furloughs for as many as one-third of its nearly 12,000 pilots, citing a resurgence in US coronavirus cases that’s weakened sales. “In recent weeks, bookings have stalled and we continue to see an impact of the recent increase in Covid-19 cases on our business,” Bryan Quigley, senior VP of flight operations, wrote Thursday in a memo to United pilots. United’s planning for a further “significant reduction in business” would drive 3,900 pilot furloughs, “and that may not prove to be enough,” Quigley wrote. United had planned to furlough 2,250 pilots this year -- a number that was expected to be reduced by voluntary leave programs and an early-separation package offered to the carrier’s most senior pilots. Instead, the number could almost double as the virus rages in many parts of the US. “Because Covid-19 cases continue, and demand improvement remains very slow, we may need to furlough more pilots in 2020, and in 2021, than originally planned,” Quigley wrote. The airline has 11,675 active pilots.<br/>